Color Trends For 2011 + Kitchen Remodel

From HGTV Website

The other day I happened to catch an HGTV show about kitchen remodeling.  Here’s the segment I saw. You might know, I wrote a post last year “The Granite Rut” about how out-of-date granite is.  “It’s so 2005″ the Oregonian recently said in their newspaper.  The HGTV show had concrete counter tops (nice), wood floors, white cabinets that were exceptionally plain with polished nickel drawer pulls and faucets.  The appliances were still stainless steel.  When’s that going to be on the outs?  The new wall colors were gray and neutrals.  Simple, clean, contemporary lines.  The original kitchen had a wallpaper border (out!), painted cabinets (out!) and black appliances (out!), country curtains (out!).

Now come the new colors for 2011.  I guess all the farmer’s markets throughout the U.S. have made their impact on our choice (or rather the designers’ choices) for colors in 2011.  To read more about those color trends, check out this link.  Earthy, bronzes, milky whites, greens, black, gray, etc. seem to be the color trends for 2011.

It still seems that neutrals are the best choice as well when you go to sell your house.  I had a house listed a while back with every room a different color – purple, red, yellow.  The home was hard to sell and since they were limited on time and money, it was put on the market with those colors.  The house did sell and the new owners immediately painted a neutral color throughout.  When you put your house on the market, it should appeal to the masses, rather than just to one buyer who might like purple or red.  Sorry folks, it still is “builders beige”  or as HGTV says, gray’s now the “go to” color, when you want to get your home sold.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws. Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).
Portland

Waiting? You Have 163 Days

On my photo blog today, Lake Oswego Living. A Photo Blog, there’s a new picture entitled “Waiting”. I posted the new picture today because if you are a move-up buyer wanting to purchase under the new Home Buyer Tax Credit program, you have roughly 5 months and 2 weeks (i.e. approximately 163 days) to sell and close your existing house, plus find and write an offer on a replacement house.  That’s about 5 months plus some change.  Frankly, that’s not a lot of time left.

Lake Oswego/West Linn’s average time to sell a house in October was 201 days, Tigard it was 141 days and West Portland 197 days.  If you put your house on the market today, you might be too late to get your house sold and closed in time plus close on your new house.  As an example, if the average time to sell in LO is 201 days, and depending upon the type of replacement home you purchase, such as a short sale, it could take up to an additional 180 days just to close your replacement house.  You can see you’re already too late to take advantage of the $6500 move up buyer tax credit available to you if you haven’t put your house on the market yet.

Granted, you don’t have to sell in order to buy and get the tax credit.  However, if you need the proceeds from the sale of your home, why are you waiting to list your property?

If you need some help, give me a call, I’d love to be your Realtor®.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws. Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).
Portland

City of Lake Oswego – Lake Floodplain Zones

With the Tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding throughout the world, and our chances of rain increasing daily here locally, I thought it might be a good idea for you to check your insurance policies regarding coverage for flooding if you live in Lake Oswego.

At the end of 2007, FEMA completed a study of the Lake Oswego area and gave the City of Lake Oswego until June 2008 to adopt maps and codes necessary to change the flood zoning for properties surrounding the Lake, canals, Tualatin River and Spring Creek.  The City’s map  includes the area along the Willamette River that was inundated by water during our floods in February 1996.  The new maps identify the areas as “Special Flood Hazard”  areas that have a 1% chance of flooding in any given year, or what is more commonly known as the 100-year floodplain.  These are also areas that are subject to what is known as a “base flood”.

More properties may need flood insurance.  Federally-backed home loans require flood insurance if the property is located within an area that could be subject to the base flood.  Although the new maps result in a higher base flood elevation, they also make it much easier to see if a house or other structure is actually located within the floodplain.  If a house is not within the floodplain, a property may file a letter of map amendment with FEMA.  If accepted, the letter would then eliminate the need for flood insurance.  Lenders and underwriters now are becoming increasingly more cautious when making home loans.

In the 1980s, I remember an underwriter questioning a house sale of mine with a Canal address in Lake Oswego.  The underwriter was requiring that the new buyer obtain flood insurance based merely on the address.  However, the house was perched high on a hill overlooking the canal and there was absolutely no way the house could ever get flooded.  Ultimately, we did succeed in getting that requirement waived.  However, I am sure there will be future situations like this occurring with the new stringent lending/appraisal requirements.  

Here are some issues as a result of those newer Lake Oswego changes:

• the value of property could be affected due to new elevation requirements
• you may be required to carry flood insurance even if it wasn’t required at the time of your original purchase or if you now refinance
• if a substantial remodel is planned, the entire structure will now be required to be at 104.5 feet elevation compared to the prior 103.5 feet
• new construction if it was built after 6/18/2008 will be required to be at that new 104.5 feet and subject to the new zones

If you are a buyer or seller of a lake or waterfront property, it is important you know about floodplains and insurance requirements.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Always Disclose

One of the phrases we hear all the time at Re/Max equity group and one which is constantly repeated by our Managers and company attorney  is “When in doubt, disclose, disclose, disclose.  No one ever got sued for disclosing too much”.

Recently, I received a call on this subject from an owner in another city in Oregon. I indicated to him when I submit a property disclosure form to my sellers, I always tell them to be honest in what information they will be providing on the form. If there are any known deficiencies, they need to indicate those. If there is a “yes” to a question that needs an explanation, they need to explain the reason for, or if, something happened and how it was corrected. Never, however, do I want them to say something they’re not absolutely certain of.  I remember when the disclosure statement became mandatory and there had been an owner that said there was insulation in a certain wall. Upon opening up that wall for whatever reason by the new buyer, there was no insulation and a lawsuit ensued. In other words, if you’re not sure there is insulation in all the walls, don’t say there is in fact insulation in every single wall. However, if you know the alarm system isn’t working and you say unknown or N/A on the form, that’s not good enough. You’ll need to explain what the problem is, if it’s been repaired, or what the current condition of that system is, etc.

We Realtors® can never fill out the form for the seller or provide the seller with the correct answers. I can explain what information the question is asking for or is needed, but it is your responsibility as a home owner to complete all the information truthfully and to the best of your knowledge.  If a property sells then sale fails due to a deficiency in the condition of the house, when it comes back on the market a new disclosure needs to be completed by the seller and given to a new buyer disclosing that deficiency.  With houses being on the market for such a long time, in some cases up to a year, a new disclosure form needs to be completed during the time the house has been for sale and possibly vacant.  Conditions of the home may have changed within that year the house has been on the market.

Now comes word from our National Association of Realtors® that the number one complaint and lawsuit is because a home owner or agent did not properly disclose the correct information to a buyer.  Disputes involving disclosure of a property’s condition now exceed disputes over agency issues, a catchall classification that includes buyer representation and breach of fiduciary duty, and issues involving the federal law intended to protect consumers from being overcharged at closing comes in third.

Water intrusion and mold problems that often follow are a major issue. Disputes concerning structural defects are also extremely common. And issues concerning septic and sewer systems, misstatements about square footage and “as is” clauses also generate more than their fair share of legal problems.

Many of these disputes arise when the seller is a bank. The problem with water and mold is linked to the foreclosure crisis and has become a larger issue due to the number of houses not being maintained or sitting empty for long periods of time.

Recently I read there are new laws for landlords renting their properties.  One of those new disclosures is that landlords must disclose whether the rental is in a 100-year floodplain.  Just because you are renting out your property, doesn’t excuse you for making disclosures to a new tenant as well.

Disclosure is an important aspect of a successful real estate transaction for all involved.  If you have any questions on disclosure, seek the advice of a real estate attorney.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Listings Not Selling

I’ve written two past posts “Marketing Your House For Sale” and “Lots of Pictures and a Virtual Tour Too Please”.  One of my pet peeves is when agents don’t put the room sizes or any descriptions into the listings (and no pictures or virtual tours either). 

The other day a listing came off the market because it didn’t sell after 286 days on the market.  Below’s a snapshot of the actual listing as it appeared in our RMLS® (only the room size portion is shown as there were other areas left undone plus no virtual tour). 

This is what the world will see when they view your listing/house on-line.  The buyer may be looking for a certain size bedroom with certain features but nothing is posted.  You wonder why this listing didn’t sell?  Of course, there are other reasons why a house doesn’t sell, but please showcase your properties to the max.   The market isn’t that “hot” that agents don’t have the time to do this.  Besides there is so much inventory on the market and too many sellers needing to sell.  Why would a buyer purchase this house without any information completed?

In searching properties for clients today, 99% of the listings I looked at for them had no room sizes, descriptions, small number of photos and most had no virtual tour.  Many of those were bank-owned homes and short sales.

It’s important that sellers take a look at their listing on line and get a copy of how the listing has been completed.  You want to sell don’t you?  Your on-line impact is just as important, or more so, as a buyer driving by to check out your house’s curb appeal.

 

Details are important.  You may be finding yourself in a difficult financial situation and “time is of the essence”, therefore, it’s really important to get the information correct – all of it.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

7 Reasons I Hold Open Houses

Recently on an Internet site, I answered a question whether open houses sell a house.  There are many schools of thought on this depending upon who you talk to.  Some agents swear by them and others not so much. In reading other Realtors’® blogs, most have addressed the open house at some point. 

In my years of selling real estate, going on 35 years, I have only sold 3 houses as a direct result of an open. Having said that, however, my marketing plan includes holding open houses almost every weekend for these reasons:

• Many people search the Internet long before contacting an agent to help them.  There are tons of websites I advertise my open houses on.  If one person who would not have otherwise seen the house comes through and likes it, decides for whatever reasons it’s not for them, they could tell one more person about it, who will tell yet another person about it. Word-of-mouth advertising is powerful.  Years ago there was a commercial on TV where, after-awhile, there are faces of thousands of people on the TV screen who found out about the product through someone else telling them about it.
• Typically I’ll hold open houses in neighborhoods where I am very active – where I have had lots of listings and sales. It gives me a chance to show the neighbors I am working in their neighborhood and they stop by to visit  me (great PR).
• Open houses keep me on my toes as to questions about the house I am selling, questions about the area/neighborhood or real estate in general. 
• If I didn’t enjoy meeting people, I wouldn’t be selling real estate.  Open houses give me the opportunity to meet new people transferring to Portland or moving across town. It’s a good way to determine if my current marketing is working.  It’s also interesting to hear why they are moving.  It helps with my future marketing and has, at times, given me content for this blog.
• Holding opens gives me a pulse on what is selling, who is buying, and which businesses are transferring new employees into Portland, etc. 
• Perhaps you’ve heard that the real reason Realtors® hold open houses is only to placate the seller.  In my opinion, that’s true.  I do want my sellers to see I am doing everything I can to sell their house – although an open house usually never sells it.  It is, however, one more way of marketing the home for sale.  Many Realtors® don’t believe it is worth their time and effort.  I agree there are better ways to spend your time for the most part.
• Lastly, I believe in synergy. I feel if I put energy into something, it will result in more energy and hopefully produce the end result -  a sale of my clients’ home.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

What Is Dual Agency?

What is Dual Agency?    In Oregon, dual agency means that a real property transaction in which the representation of a buyer and seller, or the representation of two or more buyers, occurs within the same real estate brokerage.   One example is I can represent both a buyer and seller in a transaction, although Re/Max Equity Group, inc. discourages us from doing so.

 

Is Dual Agency Legal?

Yes.  The latest information I have is that 33 states allow dual agency while only eight have said they will not. Licensing requirements vary by state with requirements ranging from registration to classes and tests. Dual Agency states are indicated below with a star *.

Dual Agency States
Alabama	Idaho*	Minnesota*	Oklahoma	Texas
California*	Illinois*	Mississippi*	Oregon*	Vermont*
Colorado	Iowa*	Missouri	Pennsylvania*	Washington, DC*
	Kansas*	Montana	South Carolina	West Virginia
Florida	Kentucky*	New Mexico	South Dakota	Wisconsin*
Georgia	Michigan	North Dakota	Tennessee*	Wyoming

As you can see, Realtors® in Oregon are permitted to involve themselves as dual agents representing both buyers and sellers, as permitted by our Oregon State Real Estate Agency.  There is an agency disclosure we provide to both buyers and sellers in a transaction disclosing this fact.  Here is the link to our agency disclosures.

Typically, however, a Realtor® will only be representing one side or the other – either a buyer, or a seller.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.  Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Disclosing Former Drug Houses

Many people are buying foreclosures and perhaps don’t know whether or not those houses at one time had been drug labs.  In addition, meth use is on the rise in Oregon despite efforts to keep needed supplies behind the counter and locked.

A while ago, I attended a meeting conducted by the Oregon Department of Human Services about meth labs in Oregon.  Most meth labs are in rental properties, hotel and motel rooms, and portable meth labs can be in cars.  The cost to clean up an average 2 bedroom, 2 bath 1000 sq. ft. house can cost easily between $6700-7500.

Courtesy of dark_kasdachnah

Here are some actions you can take to protect a rental property:

Before Renting Your Property

• Make sure any rental application you receive is completed.
• Conduct a complete background check for each adult including their rental history, employment history, credit report and perform a criminal background check.
• Meet every adult and require picture identification
• Pay attention to appearance and behaviors.
• Your rental agreement should address illegal activity and the tenant’s responsibility for conduct on your property

After Renting Your Property

• Visit your property often
• Talk with neighbors and ask them to contact you with concerns
• Be aware of possible drug lab indicators such as:  excessive garbage, red stains in the kitchen and/or bathrooms, increased activity – especially at night, paranoid or odd behavior, blacked out windows, excessive home security, chemical odors, complaints from neighbors.

The Cost of Clean-up

As a property owner here in Oregon, you are responsible for the cost of clean-up of an illegal drug lab.  In addition, there may be loss of revenue, property damage, decreased property value, dangerous tenants, liability and loss of respect from neighbors.  DO NOT enter the property if you suspect a drug lab, call the police.

Before you Sell Your Property, Clean-up and Disclosure of a Drug Lab

Our Property Disclosure in Oregon requires a seller to disclose whether the property has ever been used as an illegal drug site.  In addition, a “Certificate of Fitness” will be required when you decide to sell that property.

Here is DEQ’s website for information on meth clean-up requirements and how to obtain the “Certificate of Fitness” from the State of Oregon.

Recently, ABC News ran a story about a little girl who became quite ill at a home her parents purchased not knowing the house had been a former drug lab.  Some states don’t require disclosure of that fact, but Oregon does.  Also, at the meeting I attended, even though DEQ provides a Certificate of Fitness and even if the property has been cleaned up, DEQ stated that meth never does completely go away.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Audio Home Finder – House Search

How many times have you sat in your car in front of a house for sale only to find there are no flyers in the flyer box, or that you can’t get a hold of anyone for information?  Although I try to keep the flyer boxes filled at my listings, there’s no guarantee that some kids won’t be riding by on their bikes and grab a handful or all of the flyers.  It has happened to me more than I can tell you.

Now, RE/MAX equity group, inc. has launched its branded “Audio Home Finder” powered by VoicePad’s Mobile IDX Audio Search Technology.  The Audio Home Finder allows home buyers immediate access from any telephone to all the broker shared listings from RMLS™ or the Willamette Valley MLS™.

What does that mean for you the buyer?  That means not only can you call a local phone number for any RE/MAX equity group listing for immediate and detailed information on a specific property, but you can access every broker-shared listing (all real estate companies’ listings) that are in the RMLS™ and the WVMLS™.   There is a recorded message you can listen to or have the information sent via text message to your cell phone.  The detailed information is both in English or Spanish.

You simply call a number, enter the house address on our company’s listings or other listings on either of the local MLS’, and you will not only get the house information, but you can also receive the estimated mortgage payment.

If you’d like to have that resource available to you at your fingertips, at your leisure and your time-frame, email me with your cell phone number and I will set it up for you.  You can have access to information on all the properties for sale – how simple is that? We’ve come a long way since printed multiple books. Just email me at bettyjung@remax.net and I will arrange it for you.  I’d love to be your Realtor®!

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.  Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

“AS IS” And What It Means

Picture Courtesy Melina Tomson

On many listings you see the comment “AS IS”. I’ve known sellers to think it means they have no obligation and that they aren’t responsible for any repairs or disclosure as to defects.  Sellers often are upset when buyers continue to have a full home inspection and later ask for repairs.

You see “AS IS” mentioned many times on “fixer upper” properties, when sellers have no money to do any repairs, or when sellers don’t want to assume any responsibility.  Many times when there’s a divorce, job loss, short sale, bank-owned, sometimes relocation properties, etc. you also see it in the listing agreement.

What do the sellers mean or actually what does it really mean here in Oregon?

“As-is” does not prohibit a buyer from requesting repairs (or some other contract modification).

“As-is” means that, when the transaction closes, the buyer acquires the property in whatever condition it is in, and the buyer accepts the property with all faults, whether or not the faults are apparent.  Of course, “as-is” does not eliminate any obligation on the seller’s part to disclose the property’s condition.  In other words, the as-is clause won’t apply if the seller had an obligation to disclose, knew about the defects and didn’t disclose them. And the language in the earnest money sales agreement such as “Seller will make no repairs” does not prohibit a buyer from requesting repairs.

There are many different ways to negotiate and complete repairs.  A knowledgeable and experienced Realtor® knows how to do just that.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.  Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

 

It’s A Two-Way Street

The other day in my Google Reader one of the blogs I subscribe to had this as a lead-in headline:  Is Your Realtor Doing Her Job?

The only thing I saw on the blog was a picture of the house and the price.  However, that was enough to get me thinking and ask this question:  Do sellers think their job is over once they list their house with a Realtor®?  Do sellers just “expect” their house will sell once it’s listed with a Realtor® without continuing the work required and necessary on their end to get their house sold?

Listing and selling your house is a two-way street and doesn’t stop once you place it on the market.  It is a relationship that runs both ways.  We are in a partnership together.  I need to do my job as your Realtor® but you also need to do your job as a seller.  If a house doesn’t sell, it always seems to be the Realtor’s® fault.  If there are no showings or offers, we always seem to get blamed.  So what is the seller’s job and/or responsibilities in getting their house sold?

• Did you do all the necessary repairs, prep work, and improvements recommended by your Realtor®?  Did you clear out all the clutter?  Is there a lawn maintenance schedule arranged?
• Did you agree to the pricing strategy presented to you by your Realtor®?  Did you start the listing at the Realtors’® recommended price?  Have you been open to lowering the price as the real estate market changes and when your Realtor® suggests there should be a price reduction?  Have you agreed to a price reduction schedule?
• Are you offering a full commission?
• Are you offering additional terms to open the availability to different buyer financing?  Are you willing to pay closing costs, if and where allowed?  Are you willing to sell Federal V.A., FHA?  Can you offer contract terms?
• Did you disclose to your agent whether you are underwater?  Having financial difficulties?  Facing foreclosure or a possible short sale?
• Is your house accessible and easy to show?  Do you vacate the house when it is being shown?  Is there a lockbox on your house?  A for sale sign?  Is the house in good condition when shown?
• Is there a Home Warranty Protection Plan being offered to the new buyer?  Have you made a full and honest disclosure about the condition and features of your house and property?
• Are you willing to do repairs prior to closing should any be required?
• Will you be able to offer a quick closing?  Quick possession after closing?  Did you eliminate any contingencies from your listing such as: “This listing subject to seller finding a suitable property”?
• Are you in constant conversation or contact with your Realtor®?  Do you make yourself available to receive your Realtors® phone calls, emails, text messages, letters, information?  Are you likewise in communication with your Realtor® relaying any information, changes in your financial and personal circumstances or situation?

These are but a few things I thought of quickly as I was writing this post and certainly not a complete list.  Your job isn’t done just because you’ve entrusted your house with a Realtor®.  We’re working together to get your house sold and it requires work and full cooperation from both of us.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.  Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).
Portland

Lockbox Or No Lockbox

In the real estate market we are currently experiencing, it is vital and never more important, that you position your property in order to get it sold.  With our large inventory of homes for sale, it’s important your home is easy to show and accessible.  This may sound pretty basic but there are some sellers that only want their houses shown at certain times or only certain days.  Some houses can only be shown along with the listing agent present or you need to call the agent to set up an appointment who then arranges it with the seller who then has to call you back. On some of the listings it shows appointment only with the seller with or without a lockbox on the property.

Sometimes we have to pick up a key in order to show the house.  Or there are those listings that ask the Realtor® leave messages on 2-3 different cell phone #’s and a home phone # before you ever know if you have an appointment or not. Tenant occupied homes typically require 24-hour notice for us to show the house.  Recently on a Saturday showing of at least 10-13 houses to my client, I had a seller request that I call her 15 minutes before I reached her house and when I got there to call her again.  The one I love the most is when you’ve set up all your appointments and showing route and the seller calls back asking if you could show the house tomorrow, the day your client isn’t available.

On this chart from RMLS™, you can see the most showings occur on Saturdays and Fridays.  RMLS® now also provides us with weekly charts tracking all showing activity and it has increased with our Spring buying season.  In addition, when I place a lockbox on a property I have listed, I receive automatic emails on my BlackBerry™ the minute a Realtor® opens the door to show your house.  There’s also a  computer print-out available with showing activity I can present to my seller.  In addition, with the “instant notification” of a showing, I follow-up with that agent to see how the showing went and give feedback to the owner.  Without the use of a lockbox, I wouldn’t have that information available.

Bottom line – you want to sell? Then make your home easy to show and accessible!  I realize it may not always be convenient for you and your family, but you do want your home to sell – don’t you?  We try to make it as convenient as possible and give as much notice as we can, but if we can’t show your house it won’t sell.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung.  All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

(For more national and local real estate information, go to my website at www.bettyjung.com)

Spring & Summer Ritual – The Garage Sale + FREE Toxic Trash Disposal

‘Tis the season, with the weather warming up, soon you will see more garage sale signs on every corner telephone post.  In fact, I’m getting ready to do the same thing.  With downsizing an option I’m considering in the near future, I realize that although I give away items of clothing and household goods to Goodwill on a routine basis, I still have too much stuff. Also, if you’re getting ready to put your home on the market, one of the areas that a lot of sellers overlook is the garage.  Just think how nice it would be for that potential buyer to view a clutter-free, empty garage.  Sometimes homeowners do a great job clearing out the clutter in the house but then go and put everything in the garage instead of packing it up or giving it away.

If you are thinking of putting your home on the market this Spring-selling season, clear out that garage.  To help, here are some tips to hold that “perfect” garage sale from Allied Van Lines and from move.com comes an article showing how added value is gained by cleaning out your garage.

Also, there’s a FREE toxic trash disposal on May 1 and 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at PCC Sylvania Parking Lot P-10, 12000 SW 49th Ave., Portland (503-234-3000) for disposal of household hazardous waste.  Go to www.oregonmetro.gov/roundups for more information as to what unwanted  waste Metro will collect that day – NO ELECTRONICS, however.

On a side note – this post brings to mind something that happened years ago on a showing.  When I called to set up an appointment, the seller told me they would be out of the home during the time my buyers and I would be there.  When I got there they were true to their word and had left the house.  When we opened the kitchen door leading to the garage, there they were – the entire family sitting in their car!  We all had a good laugh.  I guess they didn’t think they could actually leave to go somewhere in their car or go for a walk around the block – no the kids, husband and wife were sitting in their car in the garage waiting for us to leave.  It’s really best if you the seller leave the premises, not just the home, when people are coming through to take a look.

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© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

For Sale By Owner – Part 1

I’ve never written about for sale by owners either in my real estate newsletter – Jung’s Journal –  or in my blog.  However, now more than ever, I feel strongly that homeowners need the expertise and services of a real estate agent.  This is Part 1 of a series of posts that I will write over-time about for sale by owners.  This first part won’t be covering everything because space and time are limited.  There will be more on this subject that I will share eventually.

Early in my career, I didn’t understand why anyone would hire a real estate agent and that a typical homeowner didn’t really need us to help them.  Then, actually about three years into selling real estate, it dawned on me.  The light bulb went on.  I realized that a homeowner shouldn’t be selling their own home without the services of a real estate agent for many reasons sellers weren’t even aware of.

This post may alienate all those “FSBOS” who think they can go it on their own.  And, you probably have and you will most certainly continue to do so.  However, how many houses have you sold?  1, 3, 10, 20, 50?  In my 34 years of selling real estate, I’ve sold thousands and thousands of houses and no two transactions have ever been the same, no two sellers have been the same and no two houses have every been the same.  I can count on one hand how many “easy” transactions I’ve had.  Before I get into my “spiel”, I want to link here to an article I recently read about whether a seller should go it alone (i.e. FSBO), or hire the likes of a Realtor® to represent them.

First off, most sellers, and granted not all, are emotionally attached to their homes.  I see it time and again even when a seller tells me they are ready to move-on and sell.  Even big grown men show emotion when they go through their home and talk about “all the improvements they made” and “how much money they spent to fix the place”.  That’s emotion.  And, when that offer does come in, they dig their feet into the sand and won’t budge because of “all the money they spent, etc. etc.”  When a seller tells me they’re not emotionally attached, they are, because they go out of their way to tell me they’re not.  Price is everything and unless you can be unemotional, unattached and realistic about pricing your home, it won’t sell.

Speaking of pricing, most FSBOS don’t have access to or are aware of true market conditions.  They may think they know what the neighbor down the street sold their house for because that’s what the neighbor told them, but it may not be true at all.  They might not know of the foreclosure around the corner, or the divorce up the street which caused values to go down.  Zillow, Trulia and the County Assessor’s office won’t know those things either nor do they have that on record.  Zillow and Trulia won’t know about the neighborhood and schools.  In our Portland market, Zillow and Trulia stats are all lumped together with Vancouver, Washington, Portland and our metro area.  Owners may think their house is worth $20,000, $50,000 more because “they have all this money invested in the house” and theirs is bigger, better, and more.  Your house isn’t worth what money you need to get out of it; it’s not worth the money you spent on painting, carpeting, installing or whatever remodeling you’ve done.  You won’t recap $ for $ on money spent for improvements.  As cold and harsh as it sounds, it comes down to location, sq. ft., bedrooms and baths.  And, not even bedrooms as much because you can put a 4 bedroom into the same space a 3 bedroom is in, etc.  Yes, condition is important, yes upgrades are important and you may be able to sell closer to the top of the $ range of the market, but that’s not how price is determined.  It is determined neighborhood by neighborhood, and street by street plus many other things are taken into consideration.

A couple of weekends ago at an open house a couple came through because they were out looking at “comparables” for their home.  Their agent lived in their neighborhood but they wanted to get an idea for prices.  In the first place, a house on the market is not a comparable.  What has sold/closed is a comparable.  Secondly, the house I was holding open was at the complete opposite end of town from them, newer than theirs, larger than theirs, a 3 car garage vs. their 2 car garage, larger lot, and older not to mention other differences not the least of which was location.  My open house was not a comparable to their house at all.

I recently went on a listing appointment where the gentleman was telling me how much work they’d done to get the house ready for sale, how much money they spent to remodel, all the improvements they made (and I got a 3 page list),  and that they had done everything they could and the house still hadn’t sold while listed with 2 other Realtors®  (there’s emotion again) after 2 years on the market.  It’s price, it all comes down to price.  They’d been pricing the house behind the market and constantly playing catch up by chasing the market.  They needed to be ahead of the market in pricing instead. I had just sold a comparable house around the corner from their house for $70,000 less than they were listed at and that had closed the day before I met with him.  Owners somehow always feel their house is different, their house is unique and they should get more money than everyone else that has sold. Price is everything, absolutely everything, and if it isn’t priced right, it won’t sell. Typically, a for sale by owner will either price the house too high or too low and will invariably not price their house where it should be.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to my website at www.bettyjung.com)

Please Remove The Dog

I’ve had German Shepard dogs for most of my life and grew up around dogs, so I love dogs. However, when showing houses, sellers sometimes forget to tell the listing agent or the Realtor® who is about to show the house that there’s a dog running loose.  Recently, while showing a house, when I called to make an appointment, the seller told me their dog would be loose.  There was no indication on the listing there was a dog, there was no indication that a dog would be loose, or that I might have to take extra precautions when showing the house.  And, in fact, my buyer’s son was allergic to dogs so I really appreciated the seller mentioning this to me and asked that the dog be removed for my showing.

As far as I am concerned, I don’t like dogs around when I am showing a house especially if there is a child or any allergies involved.  First of all because of my concern for my buyers and because I’ve been bitten by two dogs.  Both were small dogs.  Once, the owner at a listing appointment told me that her dog was very friendly and liked me, evidenced by the fact that its tail was wagging – only to bite my ankle.  Another dog, as I was entering a house, decided to bite my toes.  In both cases, the injuries weren’t serious.  Recently I happened to watch a show just about dogs and it said that when a dog’s tail wags it doesn’t mean it likes you or is friendly, but rather means the dog is excited and can be excited enough to bite you.  Dog owners, who absolutely love their dogs and treat them as humans, need to realize that not everyone is going to like their dog especially when looking at houses and at the very least can be a distraction. Dogs may be very friendly when you’re around, but when they’re guarding your home, who knows what reaction they will have to my clients.  Many of my sellers have kennels and place the dog inside during the day in the house or in the garage.  That is then noted on the listing agreement with showing instructions.

Oh, and I forgot to mention how many yards have dog droppings left behind that haven’t been cleaned up not to mention the many times I’ve shown houses where the dogs went inside on the carpeting and we have to step over it.  Not a pretty sight.  If you want to sell your house, please clean-up and remove the dog when there’s a showing.  I know you love your dog but you do want to sell don’t you?

Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws. (Copyright applies fully and automatically to any work — a photograph, a song, a web page, an article, pretty much any form of expression — the moment it is created. This means that if you want to copy and re-use a creative work in another way, that you find online, you have to ask the author’s permission to re-use their information.)

(For more national and local real estate information, go to my website at www.bettyjung.com)

Sellers Getting Stuck

A couple of months ago, I saw a news story on ABC News about a couple who had put their house on the market, had a buyer who wrote a contract on their house and went and purchased a replacement house.  At the last minute the buyer of their house, backed out of the agreement.  The news story went on to say that the seller had “sold” their house, had done everything right, and now they were stuck with two houses.

Not so fast….I don’t know who advised them, but getting a “contract” on your house is not selling your house.  Selling your house is when a transaction closes, the deed gets transferred and recorded to the new buyer,and you have your money in your hand.  When I have a seller who wants to sell and purchase another house, there are several ways to handle not only the listing of their current house but also the possible purchase of a replacement house.

Whenever a client of mine decides to sell, they get all excited and start looking at houses. I have no objection to them looking because it helps them decide what they really want, they can see what the values in the area are where they want to move, they can check out neighborhoods, schools, etc.  However, my question always is when I list their house “Do you have to sell in order to buy”?  If they have to sell their existing house before they can purchase, or if they need the proceeds from their house in order to buy their next house, then we need to concentrate on getting their house sold first before they purchase that new one.  I know there are bridge loans and other financing vehicles, but I still believe it’s better to have all your proceeds before you buy another house.

I’m one of those agents who doesn’t believe in nor encourages contingency offers.  If you have your house listed with me and a buyer makes a 24-hour contingency offer on your house, I would suggest to the buyer they too need to sell their house first before making an offer on your house.  An offer giving the new buyer 24, 48, or a 72 hour contingency to decide whether they can or will purchase your home means nothing and is not a sale.  It is not any different than me telling you that I like your house and maybe someday, somehow and if…I would love to buy your house, i.e. it means nothing.  A contingency offer is not an offer in my opinion and I don’t encourage them no matter what kind of real estate market we are in.  If a seller has had an offer that has been accepted by them, I do encourage they write an offer on their new house subject to the close of their old house.

Granted there are many Realtors® who will disagree with me.  However, I see no purpose in a buyer writing a contingency offer or a seller accepting a contingency offer.  Let the buyer go and sell their house first and you the seller wait until you have your house sold before you purchase another one, especially in this real estate climate.  That way, sellers won’t get stuck owning two houses. There’s always another house.

Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws. (Copyright applies fully and automatically to any work — a photograph, a song, a web page, an article, pretty much any form of expression — the moment it is created. This means that if you want to copy and re-use a creative work in another way (i.e. flyer, newsletter, print media), that you find online, you have to ask the author’s permission to re-use their information.)

(For more national and local real estate information, go to my website at www.bettyjung.com)

Owning Real Estate

A while back on a listing appointment I was asked if I owned real estate.  That was the first time I had ever been asked that question by anyone with whom I was conducting real estate business. Having become a homeowner at the age of 19, I’ve owned real estate ever since which has included land, apartments, acreage, single family homes, and new construction for resale.  In fact, while I was building my current home it was the only time that I had rented during its construction. I’ve always owned.  At this listing appointment when the seller asked me that it got me thinking.  I know many, many Realtors® who have never owned real estate and yet they list and sell houses and have never experienced what a buyer or seller goes through.  Personally, I think every seller should ask a potential listing agent or buyer’s agent whether they own or have ever owned real estate.

As Realtors® in the State of Oregon, we are required to complete 30 clock hours of training every other year to renew our real estate licenses.  Instead of that training,  I believe every real estate agent ought to buy or sell a house of their own every two years to remember what it is like to be a buyer or seller and put themselves in their clients’ shoes.  I know that would be difficult to do, if not impossible, but it would be a great idea, in my opinion!

Last week while on another listing appointment I was again asked by a seller who also told me their previous agent, to their surprise, had never owned real estate.  They had never thought to ask an agent that question and were surprised when they found out their previous agent had never owned a home.

Granted, probably not every Mercedes salesman has owned a Mercedes, nor has every commercial real estate agent owned a commercial building either.  However, being that Realtors® are in the business of dealing with emotional situations that buyers and sellers go through, it wouldn’t hurt to have an agent representing you who knows what it’s like to personally sell or buy real estate for themselves.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Marketing Your House for Sale

As a Realtor® and listing agent in marketing your home one of the first marketing tools or advertising is the RMLS™ listing.  That listing agreement form is a very important tool in the total marketing of your property.

It is the way I am enticing other Realtors® to show your home and buyers who view your home on-line to come and take a look.  It is crucial to have the form completely filled out before I submit the listing to the outside world.  Room sizes are important yet the majority of the listings I see in our local RMLS™ have Realtors® leaving the room sizes off their listings.  If I have a buyer who is looking for a certain size dining room or master bedroom, your home won’t appear in their search parameters and they will never see it as the agent didn’t complete the listing information.

Pictures are extremely important and I feel each agent should have the maximum number of pictures (16 in our RMLS™) plus a virtual tour and/or a video. 88% of buyers now search the Internet before they ever work with a Realtor® to purchase a home.  School information many times is incomplete or incorrect on listings.  Or, there isn’t an indication as to the number of  bedrooms.  It might say 4 under the bedroom category but where the parameter is for the sizes and what floor the rooms are on, that usually is left off.  Another trend I see far too often is in the address section.  Realtors® will think they are “creative” say things like … on quiet street, @ dead end, “motivated”, flag lot, private, 4BAC (what the raised commission $ amount is), etc. right next to the address and on the same line as the address.  Yet, when a buyer goes to google search or mapquest that address, your home will never appear because google/mapquest doesn’t recognize anything other than the address, again losing a potential buyer.  And, this may sound way too simple, but addresses have been incorrect.

Ask to see a copy of the printed listing form.  Further, it would be a good idea if you initialed a copy of what the Realtor® has input into RMLS™.  Look at your listing on-line to make sure the information is correct.  One small error in the listing could lose you potential buyers.  In this market, you need to maximize the information and make sure it is correct; and further, make sure that the listing is completely filled out.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.  Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Portland

Closings Have a Life of Their Own Sometimes

Image from Microsoft Office

When a listing of mine sells, sellers ask me just how sure the transaction is.  My response is “it’s as sure as I can tell them”.  Why do I answer with those words?  It’s because life just happens to interfere sometimes and there are always risks when selling or buying real estate.

If the buyers are pre-approved, if the lender says all is ok, if any and all home inspections go well, if any/all repairs are satisfactorily negotiated, when all the contingencies are removed, after the appraisal is done and the home appraises for the sale price, all the “t’s crossed and “i’s” have been dotted, is it not smooth sailing to closing? Unfortunately, not always.

During my career, I’ve had lots of things happen that have prevented a closing.  No matter how diligent I am, the other agent is, and all the other parties to the transaction are, things can still happen – life happens.

Here are just a very few things that have happened to me:

• Once I was waiting with the wife at escrow to sign closing documents when the husband didn’t show and didn’t show.  Finally after calling around, it was learned that the husband had run off with another woman and, oh yes, forgot to tell his wife who was left waiting at the title company. 
• Another time, I was the listing agent representing the seller, and I had the co-oping agent’s buyer arrested the morning of closing.  I had to tell my seller (who had a $1 million house we had just sold) at their signing that I had called the police (based only on my intuition) and found out there were 18 arrest warrants out for their buyer who would then be arrested the minute he walked in to his signing and their house wouldn’t be closing.  Thank goodness my listing did sell a second time.  Imagine how I felt when I had to inform my sellers what I had done, but managed to save them a lot more grief, anguish and money in the long run. There’s a lot more to this story; however, I’ll save it for another post. 
• I had a woman decide to marry a man in another state and moved there before her house closed.  Shortly into the marriage, she decided she wanted to come back and end her marriage.  The house was just about to close but she wanted it back–obviously it never recorded.  I had another lady who was diagnosed with a fatal illness two days before signing and decided she just couldn’t buy the house she was going to.
• Once I had a buyer pass away the morning of signing.  I’ve also had many buyers who have lost their jobs right before the closing day. 

With financing tight, lenders pulling loans or changing the terms on buyers prior to closing, selling your home in today’s real estate market has risks and many times it is not the fault of the buyers.  However, sometimes buyers will make large purchases, change jobs, co-sign for other parties all before their house closes and affects not only their credit but the loan they were qualified for to buy their new house.  All these things are on the “do-not-do-list” before purchasing.  Also, buyers just change their minds at times which will result in, depending on the specific circumstances, them losing their earnest money deposit.

Also, when you go to sign your loan documents and escrow papers, that’s not closing.  That’s called signing.  Here in Oregon, closing occurs when the deed is recorded and disbursement of funds have been made to the seller.

Life happens and you always hope for the best.  You work towards a successful closing but there are those times when things just don’t work out, there are situations you just can’t control and things that can and do go sideways.

Copyright ©Betty Jung. 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer: All information in this post is subject to change without notice. Subject matter: is an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be time sensitive, and may be based on information collected from several sources which may or may not be reliable at the time of sourcing.  

(For more local and national real estate news, click on my monthly newsletter – JUNG’S JOURNAL – on my website www.bettyjung.com).

A World of Hurt – Too Many Foreclosures

Back on May 2, I wrote a post about the short sales and foreclosures in Tigard, Lake Oswego and Portland.  That was the second post I wrote and at that time I noted there were 10,318 pre-foreclosures in  Portland alone.  Those stats showed that Portland was the hardest hit and I saw there would be a lot more foreclosures on the horizon and a world of hurt coming.

Both my July 30th post on “Sub-Prime Mortgage Conditions in Oregon and my September 27 post “Sub-Prime Mortgage Conditions in Oregon Part 2 stated that our foreclosures showed signs of increasing here in Oregon.

On October 2, I again wrote in  “The 1980s Real Estate Market vs. Today’s Part 2″ that foreclosures would be on the increase here in Portland.

The Portland Tribune’s recent article reported the large number of foreclosures below (by zip code) in Multnomah County as of the beginning of October only:

 PORTLAND – EASTSIDE

97202-58, 97206=178, 97211=123, 97212=55, 97213=59, 97214=29, 97215=39, 97216=45, 97218=51, 97220=135, 97230=115, 97233=158, 97232=10, 97236=194, 97266=202

PORTLAND – WESTSIDE

97203=121, 97217=128, 97227=14, 97210=17, 97209=52, 97205=4, 97204=0, 97201=21, 97221=13, 97239=31, 97219=83

YET MORE FORECLOSURES

According to RealtyTrac®, here are the foreclosure stats for Tigard and Lake Oswego as of this date:

97223, 97224 TIGARD

97223=207 in pre-foreclosure, 239 set for auction, 188 REO’s (bank owned).  97224=275 in pre-foreclosure, 276 set for auction, 206 REO’s (bank owned.

97034, 97035 LAKE OSWEGO

97034=267 in pre-foreclosure, 202 set for auction, 190 REO’s (bank owned). 97035=253 pre-foreclosure, 239 set for auction and 188 REO’s (bank owned).

The signs have been there all along.  Sellers tend to hold on too long and need to work with their lender at the first sign of trouble and not when their homes are close to being in foreclosure.

Although I’ve heard and read that both Fannie and Freddie aren’t as forthcoming as we had hoped in restructuring loans to avoid foreclosure, contact your bank, an attorney or a Realtor® as soon as you see you are entering into a difficult time period.  Please don’t wait until you are 90 days behind on your mortgage.  There are cases that I have heard where lenders won’t talk with you, however, until you are behind in your payments as there are so many others in front of you in line waiting for assistance as well.  However, I still feel it’s important you notify your bank at the first sign of financial trouble.

One of my clients lost her home in foreclosure during a different recessionary time period.  Her husband had a 100% VA loan on their home.  He was by all appearances young and healthy.  She was a stay at home wife and had never worked.  He died suddenly and not only did she not have a job but she also had no skills.  She called me and asked me what she should do.  I recommended she call her bank (at that time we didn’t have all this foreclosure assistance) and that we put the house on the market immediately.  She instead got a job at K-Mart and you can guess what happened next, she lost the house in foreclosure because she hung on too long.

I’ve also written many other posts on foreclosure assistance such as “10 Tips to Avoid Foreclosure and Foreclosure Scams” , the post on “Foreclosure Resource Assistance Guide”, and the post “HB 3630 and Foreclosure Scams” to try to help you along the way.  If nothing else, contact one of those agencies or, as stated above, contact your bank or a Realtor®. Here’s also a copy of the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act – H.R. 3221. I know the tendency is to hope things will get better, but for the most part, they won’t if you don’t have the ability to pay.  If you have no way to pay your bills there are options, please let them help you and don’t wait.  You’re not alone!  Here’s only one example on ABC News’ Nightline about a woman who successfully negotiated a short sale with her lender because she was underwater on her mortgage.

ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.  Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).
Portland